Nibble,
lick, nip, savor, relish, devour, crave. Get your mind out of the
gutter, kids -- what I'm talking about here is food.

Well, mostly. (Wink, wink,
nudge, nudge, bat my eyelashes like a good coquette.) Food is sexy,
eating an act of l-o-v-e love. The perfect, scientifically-proven
aphrodisiac might not exist, but there's one thing that's undeniable:
good food, in the right company, sure can help to set the mood. And if
eating is love, then cooking, it follows, is foreplay. The one thing
(okay, the other thing) that beats sharing a good meal is making the
meal ensemble as well. So
skip the restaurant reservations and avoid the Valentine's Day dinner
crowds -- make a date in your kitchen instead. We'll get your Evening of
Amour started with this swoon-inducingly yummy menu.
Turn up some good lovey tunes and get cooking. Where the night
leads, of course, is up to you and yours.

arugula and
dried cherries with orange vinaigrette
You can make this salad with mixed greens if you like, but I love the
strong nutty flavor of arugula paired with the citrusy dressing.

Whisk together the vinaigrette
ingredients in a bowl, and adjust seasonings to taste. I like to keep my
dressing in a small glass screw-top jar (recycled from a caper jar and
delabeled), as this makes it easy and messless to shake up the dressing
just before using. Alternatively, the dressing can go in a pretty
serving dish -- just make sure the sides of the dish are high enough to
allow you to give the dressing a good stir. Assemble two plates with a
few handfuls of arugula, a smattering of dried cherries and toasted
almonds, and crumbled goat cheese. Serve with the dressing.